Town Talk: What’s next for the iconic Dhurringile Mansion?

However, I think the award she received a couple of years ago, sums up some of her activities nicely.

She received an award of merit for ‘exceptional services to history in Victoria’.

Today, with her first-class writing skills, Kay is contributing to Town Talk with a particular purpose in mind: Dhurringile Mansion is a valuable asset for Greater Shepparton and Kay doesn’t want us to sit around until the government decides how it should be utilised.

A community meeting has been organised for Monday, July 29 at 6.30pm in the Dhurringile Hall and everyone with an interest in the outcome is welcome.

It would be great if we could take a couple of suggestions to Spring St; perhaps our state politicians will even be grateful.

And perhaps we can avoid having it vacant and deteriorating for years to come.

The history of Dhurringile Mansion

Dhurringile Mansion has had four very different occupants under its roof over the years and varying activities occurring on the adjoining farmland.

With the recent shock announcement that Dhurringile Prison would cease operation at the site in August, one wonders what will be the fifth life for this important historic place.

The property, including the mansion, stables and shearing shed, are listed on the Victorian Heritage Register and described as being “of architectural, historical and social significance to the state of Victoria”.

Apart from the historic value, the economic impact across the district is also of great concern.

A pastoral property

The first life of the estate was under the ownership of James Winter.

He had acquired the large Toolamba Run in 1868, but the timber and mud-brick homestead situated beside the Goulburn River was in ruins after the mighty 1870 flood, so he sought higher ground for his home and a sandhill site 10km to the west was ideal.

The property was renamed Dhurringile and he promptly embarked on constructing a brick, architect-designed, 68-room, grand two-storey mansion, which was completed by 1877.

On the estate farmland he introduced progressive farming practices such as the use of steam-driven ploughs.

He was an active leader in the Murchison community and councillor and president of the Waranga Shire.

While touring the United States and England with his family in 1885, James became ill and died.

Several managers then oversaw the running of the property until acquired by Everard Browne, son of the writer Rolf Boldrewood in 1906.

Under his ownership, many allotments were subdivided into small holdings.

By the time Vincent Hart purchased the property in 1925, less than 900 acres surrounded the mansion.

It was largely unoccupied at this point and by 1939 this phase of private pastoral pursuits ended and it entered a most dramatic stage.

Internment and prisoner-of-war camp

When World War II began in 1939, the Federal Government leased the property and surrounded the mansion with a barbed wire security fence and guards to intern ‘enemy aliens’, German immigrants who were thought to be a security risk.

The numbers of these internees soon proved too great to be accommodated there and so purpose-built camps were constructed west of Dhurringile near Waranga Basin.

After being vacant for some months, the property was set up to house German officers and their batmen, notably the survivors of the Kormoran, the ship that had sunk HMAS Sydney off the coast of Western Australia.

Plans to escape captivity were carefully planned by the German POWs and construction of tunnels was skilfully undertaken despite the difficulty posed by the sandhill site on which Dhurringile was located.

Seventeen prisoners used a tunnel to gain their freedom in January 1945, but were recaptured in a matter of days. Nevertheless, they caused a great deal of anxiety for local residents and havoc for the guards.

Once the war ended and the prisoners were repatriated, the mansion was vacant for some time and subject to vandalism.

Many fittings were stolen but fortunately no damage was done to the attractive staircase or the beautiful stained-glass windows, a striking feature on the stairway landing.

A very different phase in the life of Dhurringile Estate came next.

Rural training farm

In 1947, the Presbyterian Church purchased Dhurringile Mansion and surrounding 120 acres to house young boys from England and Scotland and also local boys, between the ages of eight and 14.

These boys had been living in children’s welfare homes due to poor family situations.

They were brought to Dhurringile with the intention to improve their circumstances by providing agricultural training that would lead to employment opportunities.

The first group of 29 boys from Scotland arrived in 1950.

The younger boys attended nearby schools and farming skills were taught to the older lads at Dhurringile.

Over the years, the ladies from Tatura and Murchison Presbyterian churches raised funds to provide furniture, clothing and books, and these caring ladies organised concerts and parties to make the boys’ experience more home-like.

Lasting attachments developed between these kindly ladies and the boys, and records show some kept in touch for many years after leaving Dhurringile and establishing themselves in successful careers.

By 1960, numbers were dwindling and there were complaints about the standard of conditions and limited training of staff.

The rural training farm closed in 1964 and so ended this third chapter in the story of Dhurringile Estate.

Her Majesty’s Prison Dhurringile

The pages of the next chapter of the story opened in 1965 when Dhurringile was purchased by the Victorian Government as a minimum-security prison then known as H.M. Dhurringile Rehabilitation Centre.

The approach to the prisoners was “to have men occupied for as many hours as possible during their regular work in the day and their hobbies in the night” and without coercion by batons or guns, in the belief that to treat them as trustworthy would engender positive behaviour.

Date of release was reduced according to conduct, wages paid for work also related to behaviour and about half of the inmates responded well to this policy.

The men worked in the orchard, which was enlarged to 14 acres, and a dairy herd was also managed by the inmates.

There were many opportunities to mix with local communities, with frequent concerts and sporting activities. Service groups visited to play snooker, carpet bowls and table tennis.

The buildings desperately needed repairs and renovation at this time and the work was largely completed by the prisoners.

Many original features were restored, such as decorative cornices. Great difficultly was encountered when replastering walls, as the German POWs had hidden the sand removed from their tunnels in the wall cavities, and the sand remained damp.

The gardens were restored to near their original condition.

Many changes occurred over the years and by 2007 most prisoners were no longer housed in the mansion.

The building was then used for administration purposes and restoration of many period features was undertaken at this time.

Now most of the men are housed in cottage-style accommodation and are supported to become self-sufficient in managing a budget and self-catering, which equips them with skills to more easily adjust when released back into society.

Many training programs are in place, offering both formal education and trade skills and also behaviour management programs.

Work parties in surrounding towns maintain grounds in schools, kindergartens, public parks and cemeteries, all of which is greatly appreciated by local communities.

Dhurringile Estate has certainly experienced contrasting activities within its boundaries: a private pastoral property, a POW camp, a church institution for young boys and currently a government-run prison.

Starting life as a grand residential property, it endured times of abandonment and neglect, barbed wire fortification and armed guard patrols, vandalism, renovation and alteration and then restoration.

It is a great concern to those living in local communities and to people passionate about retaining our heritage that this important place, classified by Heritage Victoria as being “of architectural significance as one of Victoria’s grandest mansions and a notable example of the Victorian Italianate style” might be at risk of neglect and potential deterioration depending on what the future will hold for Dhurringile Estate.

— Kay Ball, Murchison & District Historical Society Inc.

Thanks, mate!

I thank Kay for her contribution to Town Talk — and I thank her for her on-going input, her talent, her apparently endless energy, her passion and her care for our community.

She first contacted me in 2021, inviting me to an exhibition in the Murchison Museum.

She and her wonderful husband, John, have since become special friends of mine — although I don’t get to see them as often as I’d like.

John is at times involved in Kay’s activities (and always interested).

However, he sometimes complains about waiting for her.

For as long as I’ve known them, he has been threatening to write a book entitled ‘Waiting for Kay’.

This amuses me, but I’m still waiting for the ‘waiting’ book.

Please attend the meeting on Thursday, August 8 at 5pm at Dhurringile Hall.

That’s it for now. Keep warm and safe and happy!

May it be easy, my friends.

Marnie

Email: towntalk@sheppnews.com.au

Letter: Town Talk. Shepparton News. P.O. Box 204. Shepparton 3631.

Phone: Send a text on 0418 962 507. (Note: text only. I will call you back, if you wish.)